Navy News, news from Iraq - Navy Times

Amphib skipper fired after grounding in gulf

SAN DIEGO — The skipper of the dock landing ship Pearl Harbor was fired Sunday after running aground July 21 while in the Persian Gulf, according to the Navy.

Cmdr. Xavier F. Valverde, a Bronze Star recipient who started his career as an enlisted sailor, was relieved by Rear Adm. Kendall Card, commander of the Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group.

“Following a preliminary inquiry after a recent grounding incident in the Arabian Gulf, Rear Adm. Card expressed his loss of confidence in Valverde’s ability to command,” said a statement released by Naval Surface Forces in Coronado, Calif. “No injuries or damage occurred as a result of the incident.”

Dave Hostetler, SurFor spokesman, said the incident occurred while the ship was operating off the coast of Kuwait.

Valverde has been “temporarily assigned” to the Naval Forces Central Command staff until the formal investigation into the incident is completed, officials said. Card tapped Capt. Mike Slotsky to replace Valverde as Pearl Harbor’s commanding officer. Slotsky is listed as the executive officer of Destroyer Squadron 9, according to that command’s Web site.

Valverde took command of Pearl Harbor in November 2007, replacing Cmdr. Victor Cooper. The ship deployed from San Diego on May 4 with the strike group, which includes the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton.

While at sea May 30, Valverde led his crew in a celebration of the ship’s 10th anniversary. “The ship continues today what she started 10 years ago — good work through the efforts of her crew,” Valverde said, according to a June 2 Navy News article. “Pearl Harbor has aged gracefully.”

The strike group arrived in the Persian Gulf in late June.

Valverde enlisted in the Navy in 1982 and was a machinist’s mate until his commissioning in 1990. Eight years later, he was Pearl Harbor’s first lieutenant at the time of the amphib’s 1998 commissioning, making him a “plank owner.”

According to his biography, Valverde in 2005 took part in the Joint Manpower Exchange Program and served as an Army operational planner for the staff of III Corps, based at Fort Hood, Texas. That unit deployed to Iraq in 2006 and Valverde worked on the staff of Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

Besides the Bronze Star, Valverde’s personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (one gold star), Navy Commendation Medal (one gold star), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (one gold star), National Defense Medal (one gold star), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal and Humanitarian Service Medal.

DISCUSS: The gulf grounding and subsequent firing